Gaming Game Recommendation Thread

[Guest aots16]

Do you know about a game that not many people know about and that is a great game?
post about it here.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]Okay, I'll leave this thread open as long as the thread starter's example isn't followed. aots16 , if you want to talk about this game in this thread, then please try and elaborate a little bit more. State things like what you like about the game, and why you like them. What you've put there just isn't enough for Otakuboards' standards. Thanks.[/color]

[Par-Fait]

I've been a fan of 'Okage: Shadow King' for a few years now. It's difficult to find other people who like it, and it's hard to see why it doesn't attract more people.

Okage is a game about a young passive boy named Ari who, in order to save his younger sister's life, makes a deal with the demon king Stan. His sister's life is saved and now Ari is the slave of the demon king until the day he dies - or at least until Stan's plan is achieved. Residing in Ari's shadow, the two leave on a quest for world conquest and to rid the world of evil kings. Along the way there are laughs, ghosts, and man-eating fishes.

The most noticible thing about this game is the style of graphics. You could describe it as Tim Burton-meets-anime. Despite most of the game taking place in bright cheerful settings it still has a lurking dark mischievousness thats only too Burton-esque. All of the characters have variated designs that suit their individual persona and they quickly become a lovable cast.

The music in Okage is uncomparable to most other games in that it's some of the strangest, but melodic and unique, songs. The opening song itself starts with the rythmic playing of a bagpipe in a catchy tune. Its music that you wouldn't normally think you'd hear in a video game, but mixed with the visuals and story it seems to fit right in.

Okage's battle system is mostly basic ATB style you find in many RPGs with the gauging system. However, when the gauge is filled and the choice menu appears, the enemy characters will stop their attack - whether or not they're flying in the air about to hit you - until you've made your choice. Depending on how you time your attacks, you can have two or three characters attack all at once, hacking away at large amounts of enemies in no time; this isn't to say that battles are over in the blink of an eye.

The diverse landscapes, quirky characters, harmonic soundtrack, and overall visuals in Okage mold it into a masterpiece of eye (and ear) candy. I really recommend this game to anyone who's willing to try something out of the ordinary. You won't regret it. ^^

[Final Remix]

I'm gonna have to go with "Riviera: the Promised Land" on this one. I've got other obscure games, but I'll give other people a chance, lol.

In Riviera, you play as Ein, a Grim Angel sent on a mission from the Gods to anihilate the province of Riviera, in order to avoid the "Retribution."

This sounds horrible, but here's the deal. The prologue is that the ever-epic war between the gods, and demons was at a veritable stalemate, and as a last-resort, the Gods sealed themselves off as well as sealing the demons.

Now, as a last-ditch effort, the Gods were able to seal their power [i]in[/i] Riviera. So there, we go, we need to release the power of the gods, as the demons have begun to escape once again.
[img]http://www.atlus.com/riviera/images/index_foursquare.jpg[/img]

(amazingly, this is NOT the actual box art)



The gameplay is that of a standard text-adventure. It's got your basic "walk up, walk west, walk north" everything, but it's all in a graphical interface. When battles are encountered (all "random", but you can escape and travel backwards until you're ready to fight them, etc.), The team is made up of Ein, and two of his female companions. You can pick the layout on a grid setup, and get to pick which 4 items you bring with you. That's right, you only get 4 items in battle. This means, if you have Mia, who's extremely proficient with a bow&arrow *(but nothing else), you need to bring a bow. That takes up one item slot, you now have 3 left to have healing items, etc., [i]or[/i] you can bring more weapons. It's entirely up to you, but you need to ascertain which you think you'll need, because there's no going back.

The Battle system is unlike most, as well. When attacking, you really only get to pick which item to use. It's different in another sense, in that every item does something different depending on who is using said item. Ein may be able to use a scythe-type weapon, and do a "mow" command, hitting everything in the front row, once. Mia, like i'd said, is only proficient with Bows, so using the scythe means doing the "throw" command, with a 12% chance of hitting [i]anything[/i] at random, once for half damage. It really makes you think.

The music is amazing, it conveys emotion at times, and stays exciting during battles. Opening dialogue, and ending dialogue for battles, as well as certain special attacks are sampled at a high bitrate.

This game is truly awesome, and it's no surprise it comes from A[color=Red]t[/color]lus.:animeswea

[Zane1]

Well, I wouldnt call it hidden, but it didnt get as much attention as it deserved. Disgaea hour of darkness. That is one of the funnest games i have ever played! In fact theres so much i could say about this game, itd take days! Personally, I say buy this! If you like strategy RPGs, you better put this in your PS2 collection! (btw im new =P)

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]Ah, I was a bit confused by the title of the thread. I thought aots16 wanted to talk about a game called Hidden Gems... I was unaware that he was using the expression. Just thought I'd mention that.[/color] :animeshy:

[boothten]

[size=1]Alright, I?ve been noticing that there have been quite a few threads where people ask what game they should buy next or what RPG they should try out is. So, I decided to create a thread where you, the members, can recommend a game that you have played (whether you suggest they buy it, try it, or skip it).

OK, before we start I?d like to post a few examples of what good and bad recommendations look like.

[center][ [b]Good Example[/b] ][/center]

[quote][size=1][b]Name[/b]: Final Fantasy XVII (Obviously, there is no such game in existence.)
[b]Brief Description[/b]: (No spoilers unless absolutely necessary!)
[b]The best thing about this game is[/b]: Self-explanatory
[b]Rating[/b]: Out of a total of five stars, what do you rate this game?
[b]You should[/b]: Buy it, try it, or skip it? What do you think?
[b]Final Word[/b]: One last thing about the game you think would be nice to mention. (Once again, no spoilers unless absolutely necessary!)[/size][/quote]

[center][ [b]Bad Example[/b] ][/center]

[quote][size=1]dood, I lIkE totaly thnk you shuld get fnial FaNtAsY xvii beecuz it?s such a c00l and aw3s0m3z0rz g@me!!!!!11!!1one

I give it a 3hundred out of fivestars!!1 haha, I Just made up a funny joke!! Wanna here it?!?!?!?! [insert approximately 16.3 smileys here] add me to your friends list!!!!![/size][/quote]

OK, now that that is out of the way, let the recommendations begin!


I'll start this off.

[b]Name[/b]: Gran Turismo 4
[b]Console[/b]: Playstation 2
[b]Number of Players[/b]: 1-6 players (with multitap)
[b]Brief Description[/b]: With authentic cars, courses, and car physics, Gran Turismo? 4 adds an even more realistic racing simulation to the series. The characteristics of each car take into account weight, speed, friction, and more to deliver realistic handling. Test-drive new vehicles in courses located in various sites, such as Nurburgring Nordschleife, New York City, the Grand Canyon, and Tsukuba Circuit. Along with Career mode, Gran Turismo? 4 highlights the new GT Photo mode.
[b]The best thing about this game is[/b]: Graphics, hands down the most beautiful game known to man that involves cars. The vehicles are so well done, as is the enviroment and your pit crew.
[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 Stars
[b]You should[/b]: Buy it
[b]Final Word[/b]: Beautifully designed game along with an amazing soundtrack that includes many different types of bands.[/size]

[PWNED]

Name: Tekken 5
Console: Playstation 2, Arcade
Number of Players: 1-2 players
Brief Description: The 6th Sony installment in the Popular Tekken series by Namco; The gaming engine returns relativly untouched with a new end boss,A new version of Tekken force titled Devil Within and three new characters along with the whole cast.
The best thing about this game is: The Graphics; This is a fine looking game and that is final. And it is single handely the Downfall of it also.
Rating: 3.5-5 stars
You should: I have two mind sets; Buy if you love the Tekken series or Arcade fighting games and rent if you prefer more technical games. There are much better on the market but there are a lot worse.
Final Word: Jinpachi Mishima is the biggest cheapo ever; Impossible to beat without taking advantage of the AI or Bugs/Glitches. He's a Namco made SNK Boss.

[Raphael]

[FONT=Palatino Linotype][b]Name:[/b] Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (1 and 2)
[b]Console:[/b] Playstation2
[b]Number of Players:[/b] 1 player
[b]Brief Description:[/b]
"True Reincarnation of The Goddess" is the litteral translation of Shin Megami Tensei. It's Atlus's long-running series of adventure involving all kind of demons, deities and occult. Digital Devil Saga (DDS)'s the latest of the series, following Nocturne on it's success.

The story is about a world called Junkyard which inhabited by people bounded by a twisted law. They're spreaded into 6 Tribes, each Tribes had to hunt down other Tribe's leader in order to advance into Nirvana, which is believed to be the true heaven. DDS2 is the continuation of the unfinished story in DDS1.

You play as Serph, the leader of the Embryon, one of many Tribes that strived to reach Nirvana. Like any other RPGs, Serph won't battle it all alone. He got 4 other people helping him on his quest which I won't reveal on this post. Each character has the ability to learn all magics, so say goodbye to only-this-character-had-this-skill (in DDS2 however, some characters had a special skill). You learn magic by using Mantra Grids, the system let you learn a skill after you learn the skill next to it.....think about the sphere-grid system of Final Fantasy X.

The battle system's not too complex, but it's not easy to describe it in words. The game has party-turn based system and the turn is determined by your characters position (from gamers view, left to right). I can't describe more of it in words as I had mentioned above, you'd better experienced it for yourself.

[b]The best thing about this game:[/b]
The graphics and character's model are original (and I mean it, you'll never find anything like it in another game) and great. The characters are superbly voiced (except for Serph, who is the never-talk-but-not-mute kind of main character) and the soundtrack deserved the top rank. The driving guitar rock of the battle themes and sometimes flavoured by the more mystical (sometimes unsettling) tunes certainly pumped the mind of anyone plays it. The storyline is complex and very imaginative yet pictures our real world greatly.

[b]Rating:[/b] [URL=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/920605.asp] Click here[/URL] for information about the ratings on this game given by many famous game news. As for me, I give this game 4.8 stars out of 5.

[b]You should:[/b] Buy it

[b]Final Word:[/b] Definitely a great game! :animesmil[/FONT]

[Final Remix]

Next up for Remix to recommend is Sunsoft's:
[img]http://flyingomelette.com/reviews/nes/screens/siliustitle.gif[/img]
for the NES.

Originally slated to be a Terminator game, the license was dropped last minute, so small changes and tweaks had to be made. The story is slapdash, at best, but that's not why we're going to check out this game, is it?


The soundtrack is, by far, the best part of this game. Although it was an NES game made in 1990, this has to be my co-favorite out of all video game soundtracks, tying with River City Ransom.
The main portion of the music is hard-driving techno-rock which wouldn't have fit in with Terminator at all. Since the songs don't necesarily have names, when arranging for a string quartet, I'd decided to name them after the respective levels, or events. Some of which are "A city ruined", "the Clatter of Steel", and "A Dark Revelation." Which, it has been locally agreed, is an accurate description of the sound, as well.

Each level is long, usually with one checkpoint 3/4's of the way through. The gameplay doesn't usually make it past the run/jump/omg-blast-baddies! idea, but it's still challenging nonetheless.
The bosses are almost impossible. The first of which, is a massive Helicopter, the second of which is a Tank which takes up almost half the screen, and usually is able to run you over.
The fifth level has an auto-scroll, so the game has a pressure-cooker feel to it, if you can make it that far. In my 16 years of gaming, I've only beaten this game twice. It is by no means fair, but is still an amazing game, even in this age of cutscenes and live music.

[img]http://flyingomelette.com/reviews/nes/screens/siliuslevel1.gif[/img]
[i]*yes, that URL is correct, this is Level 1. awesome for a famicom game, no?*

[/i]Check this game out, if you haven't...If you can still find a copy. It's more than worth it, especially if you like megaman, or like Sunsoft games.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]I've merged the "Hidden Gems" thread with the "Game Recommendation Thread" thread because they're ultimately both threads that aim to detail games that people would like to, well, recommend. The option is still open to post in the format that Lan intended, however.[/color]